How Public Health Expenditure Affect Health Outcomes in Cameroon

Most African governments, and Cameroon in particular, have identified the reduction of infant mortality and life expectancy in Africa as a critical priority. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals set a target objective of reducing infant mortality by 60% from 1990 to 2015 in less-developed countries. Good health contributes significantly to the attainment of sustainable development and health outcomes. Despite Cameroon’s progress in achieving health-related Millennium Development Goals regarding reducing infant mortality and increasing life expectancy, the country is still worse in respect to health outcomes compared to other Sub-Saharan Countries like Nigeria and Ghana thus more need to be done by the Cameroon Government to improve infant mortality and life expectancy. It has experienced challenges involving attaining positive results for its population. This study’s primary focus was to investigate Cameroon’s public health expenditure and health outcomes using time series data from 2000 to 2017. Data sets used for this study were from the United Nations Children’s Fund, World Health Organization, and World Bank. Grossman’s human capital model of the demand for health served as the theoretical framework. Ordinary least squares regression was employed to evaluate the effect of public health expenditure on life expectancy and infant mortality. The data analysis showed that public health expenditure per capita was positively associated with lower maternal mortality, lower under-5 mortality, and higher life expectancy, though this was not the case in all variables studied. The results of this study could lead to positive social change by providing guidance for establishing nonbiased health policy intervention strategies in allocation of public health expenditures in Cameroon